One common type of exercise apparatus includes a rope that extends though a housing, with handle devices at opposite ends of the rope. A person pulls one end of the rope away from the housing while resisting movement of the opposite end of the rope towards the housing. One problem with this type of apparatus is adjusting the effective length of the rope, which can be considered to equal the sum of the lengths of rope portions extending from the housing to the two handle devices. For example, a tall person who is standing on the housing and moving the handles up and down may be most comfortable with a long rope, while a shorter person may desire a somewhat shorter rope effective length. A person may want to move the handles with his/her feet while sitting closely over the housing, using a short rope. A person can best choose the right rope length by lengthening or shortening the rope while the person is in the position that he/she will use during the exercise and is grasping grips on the handle devices. Once the proper length is found, the person may not want that length to change during interruptions in exercise.
One method for changing rope length, described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,315,701 by Shifferaw, uses handle devices that each has a shaft and a crossbar. The rope is continually urged to wind up on spools in the handle devices. A person first grasps or pushes on the crossbars to pull the handle devices away from the housing to lengthen the rope. The person then switches to the shafts and grasps them tightly to prevent shortening or lengthening of the rope. When the person stops tightly grasping the handles, the rope automatically tends to shorten until the handles have been fully retracted and lie against the housing. Such person cannot avoid retraction by merely laying the handles on a chair or other surface that lies above the housing. The exercise device cannot be used in a mode wherein the handle devices are moved by the person's feet, since the shaft then will not be firmly grasped and the rope then will continually length and shorten by turning of the spools. A pull-rope device that allowed a person to easily adjust rope length, without requiring changing of grip, and without requiring continuous grasping of a shaft, would be of value.